The 17-year-old Tiffany Keep retained her South African junior cross-country half-marathon title at the national championships in Grabouw at the weekend.
The KwaZulu-Natal cyclist won the 40km race in 1 hour 58 minutes and 44 seconds.
Second and third were Frances Janse van Rensburg and Chante Olivier, who finished in 2:06:39 and 2:08:53 respectively.
The 17-year-old Tiffany Keep retained her national jersey at the cross-country marathon championships in Grabouw at the weekend. Photo: Henk Neuhoff Photography
“I’m really happy with my result because I put in a lot of work for this race,” said Keep. “I raced my heart out. Thankfully it all went well.”
The talented junior said many people underestimated the marathon discipline, which could be just as tough as cross-country.
“The testing conditions made the win even more special. It makes me proud to know I was able to fight it out on the muddy and slippery route.
“Career-wise it’s another positive step and personally it’s a great achievement for me to have overcome the hardships of the race.”
Keep said the race had started fairly fast, but she was used to it because back home the girls usually raced with the boys and older male cyclists.
“The other girls started a little slower than Chloe Bateson and I. She led out the field and I took over up the first climb and opened a gap within the first 3km.”
Janse van Rensburg kept up with her for a while but Keep soon shook her off and rode solo to the finish.
“I didn’t focus too much on the competition, but rather on my own race and it worked out well for me,” she said.
“I tried to catch the guys who started before us. Some of them wouldn’t let me pass and I had to ask them several times to move over. Some were very polite but others were not.”
Keep felt the route suited her as it had a lot of single track that brought her cross-country skills into play. The climbs were also short, sharp and steep.
“Unfortunately I had a bit of gear trouble because of the mud. I couldn’t shift into my easiest gear, so it was difficult going up the climbs; not being able to use my full range.
“I had to stand and put down as much power as I could to get over the hills. Fortunately the single track provided some time to rest and recover.”
Keep appreciated the strong competition from some of the girls in her age category. “It helps raise the level of the group and promotes positive racing,” she said.
She was happy with her performance, the way she raced, her mental attitude and how it panned out. And she was grateful that she did not have major technical issues.
“I have no complaints about how I raced. Rather than focus on the negatives, I’d rather use the positives to propel me along this journey.”
